Since Maverick Vinales made the jump from Suzuki to Yamaha ahead of the 2017 MotoGP season, the Spaniard’s time with the Iwata manufacturer has been characterised by one thing: inconsistency.
Vinales has always been fast in testing, a regular on the front row, and sometimes almost completely unstoppable in races. But there are other race weekends in which he looks almost absent – and that’s not how you go about the business of winning MotoGP titles.
Some of his unpredictability can be attributed to Yamaha’s YZR-M1, of course. It’s a bike that likes a particular set of conditions, and it’s no secret that when grip conditions at a track fade (through damp conditions, high temperatures or dust), it’s almost a lost cause for all of the Yamaha riders.
There are also issues with the bike’s design that need to be addressed. It’s an open secret that it ranks amongst the least powerful machines on the grid, and with that in particular causing acceleration issues, it puts a lot of pressure on the riders to lead from the front rather than out-drag their faster opponents on corner exit – a fool’s game when you’re up against ultra-fast Ducatis and KTMs.
But now, as he prepares to start his fifth season with the factory, his team has finally identified what it believes is the main hurdle it needs to help Vinales to overcome in order to turn him into the champion that he’s always hinted at having the potential to be – his own head.
There’s no doubting that Vinales sometimes struggles internally as much as he struggles with the bike. He’s admitted in the past that he’s often too quick to let his frustrations get the better of him, and that he needs to learn how to better control his emotions, often in the garage even more than on the bike.
“I have plenty of trust in Maverick. Sometimes, I think I believe in him more than I think he believes in himself,” admitted Yamaha team manager Maio Meregalli at this week’s team launch.
“He had a really difficult season last year, dealing with many issues, but we want to forget that and focus on 2021. I’m really confident about what Japan is going to deliver to us, and I think that Maverick has everything he needs to fight for the title.”
It’s something that team principal Lin Jarvis seconded, with the veteran boss adamant that between improvements in the bike for the coming season and a better understanding of what Vinales needs from Yamaha, they’re on track for a better season this year.
“We know that he has the speed, there’s no question about that,” enthused Jarvis. “We have inconsistencies, though, we know that. We need to rule those out, and we need to manage the bad days, because when he’s in form and feeling good, he’s difficult to beat. When he has an off day, which is sometimes due to the inconsistencies of our bike too, then we need to keep him up.
“I’m confident that we can do that. I believe this year’s technical package will be stronger, but we also need to work more in the box to have a stronger support system for him, to help him find better solutions.”
And for his part, Vinales is very much on the same page as his bosses, with the 26-year-old adamant that the process of growing up and becoming more mature is going to give him the final push he needs.
“What I try to do is to stay calm,” Vinales told journalists at the team launch. “That’s the most important thing for me. After all these years, I’ve tried a lot of things and maybe moved too fast. What I want now is to be calm, to have the mindset that we can’t have super results all the time – that sometimes it’s ok to have a bad day.
“I need to find people around me who help me find stability. I’ve talked a lot with Maio and Lin, and they understand that sometimes it’s difficult but they also understand what I need to do to be fast.
“I think that every year we understand and learn a little bit more. Every year I give my maximum to be as fast as possible and to be at the top.”
That’s something we’ve heard in previous seasons as well from Vinales, though, and a simple statement of what he and Yamaha believe they need to do to fix things isn’t enough to immediately declare him as a changed man.
However, Jarvis is bullish that 2021’s improvements will be enough to finally make things work properly on the fifth attempt, as Yamaha once again revamps how it supports Vinales.
“It’s not really the case [that we’ve waited five years to make changes]. You’ll recall that when Maverick joined us, he was with Ramon Forcada, and we then changed crew chiefs after a certain time and took on board Esteban Garcia. We changed some other members of the crew in the box. A team is always adjusting and changing and adapting.
“Maverick can be very strong but he’s not always consistent. At the end of the day there are many riders capable of winning races and everyone is trying to win the championship, and it’s not easy. You have to constantly adjust and change.
“Last season, right at the beginning of the season at the first race, Maverick had the first problem when his Ohlins engineer had to retire – he literally retired from the sport because of COVID because he couldn’t travel from Australia. Later in the season, one of Maverick’s key engineers retired.
“We have a constant movement and there’s no black-and-white solution. We have to try and fix problems and solve problems, even as the rider changes over the years too.
“But what I’d say we’ve done this year is look in a lot of detail at last season to analyse our weaknesses and see where we need to improve.
“We’re going to change the technical system inside the box for Maverick so that we can support him and plan for the race weekend better. It’s nothing new, but all the details are important if you want to win.
“Maverick has the same potential today as he did when he joined us, but we haven’t yet made it happen.”
